BE READY Partnership response to the Andes hantavirus outbreak in May 2026

BE READY is stepping up to respond to the Andes hantavirus outbreak

BE READY, the European Partnership for Pandemic Preparedness, has been working closely with its European stakeholders since 10 May 2026, when passengers of the MV Hondius disembarked in Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain.

On Friday 22 May, one hundred BE READY partners met online to initiate discussions on cross-country alignment of research priorities in response to the ANDV outbreak. A survey, closely linked to the prioritisation work currently being carried out by the WHO Collaborative Open Research Consortium (CORC) on Bunyavirales, is open to collect input from partners. Its goal is to:

• identify common and divergent priorities, gaps, and opportunities for coordination, as well as relevant national funding mechanisms
• collect information for the Pandemic Preparedness and Response Observator, a tool developed by BE READY to track and analyse Research & Innovation efforts in pandemic preparedness and response across EU Member States and Associated Countries

Six research priorities were identified across the One Health continuum

Because preparedness depends on linking evidence across the full ‘One Health’ continuum, ‘animal reservoirs’, ‘transmission’, ‘clinical evidence’, ‘diagnosis & care’, ‘tools’, and ‘societal response’ are the six research priorities that were identified.

Three working groups (Work Package 10, WP11, and WP12) contribute to BE READY’s response to the hantavirus situation:

• WP10 is working on preclinical research into ANDV: A mapping pilot exercise is conducted to identify relevant hantavirus/ANDV preclinical capacities including in vitro/ex vivo, animal, assay and high-containment capacities, and to assess if available virus/materials, assays, models and expertise can be matched to real-life research concerns (work in close collaboration with the European Medicines Agency (EMA)).
• WP11 collects social and public health data: In the context of the ANDV outbreak, BE READY is working closely with the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) to ensure a real-time, consolidated contact tracing across countries.
• WP 12 launches the NAVIS study: ANRS MIE, as coordinator of the BE READY Partnership, together with WP12 was called upon to coordinate the NAVIS study (Natural History of Andes Virus Infection in a Shipboard Outbreak).

About the NAVIS Study

The NAVIS platform, based on the WHO/ISARIC (International Severe Acute Respiratory and Emerging Infection Consortium) protocol, is a prospective observational study of individuals exposed to Andes virus through direct human-to-human, environmental, or healthcare-related exposures.

The study aims primarily to define the natural history timeline of Andes virus infection, from exposure to key clinical and biological endpoints. It will also document virological and immunological responses, mechanisms of disease severity, clinical outcomes, and transmission-related endpoints. NAVIS is structured around three stages — exposure, pre-symptomatic infection, and symptomatic disease — with epidemiological, clinical, haematological, biochemical, virological, and immunological assessments adapted to each stage and timepoint.